1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical communication equipment and a vehicle control method, and in particular, it relates to a system utilizing inter-vehicle communication equipment via optical communication. By arranging to notify information of traffic regulations utilizing optical communication according to the inter-vehicle communication system, it is enabled by the present invention to control traveling of a vehicle easily and reliably even in such a complicated place where a plurality of roads intersect as in urban cities or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, as a method for improving safe driving of a vehicle, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) Nos. 2001-167384 and Hei 9-50595, etc. have proposed methods to control traveling speed and so on in accordance with data transmission by radio from equipment installed in a road sign or the like. According to these methods, because the traveling of a vehicle ignoring a traffic regulation can be prevented, it is considered that traffic safety is improved accordingly.
According to these methods, however, there are such problems that because dedicated facilities must be installed along the road and installed in a vehicle, its system inevitably becomes large-scaled. Further, because it depends on data transmission by radio, even if a frequency band having strong directivity is employed, it is difficult to control the traveling of only a specific vehicle traveling in a specific area, thereby it is not applicable to a place where a plurality of roads intersect in complication such as in urban cities or the like.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) No. 2001-167384
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 9-50595